Felipe Massa hoping for 'very different' 2012 after difficult 2011 season

While Ferrari has won just one race this year, Massa has been overshadowed by team-mate Fernando Alonso, and he faces the prospect of finishing the season without a podium ahead of the final race of the year in Brazil.

Massa, however, says he is determined to turn his fortunes around in 2012 and is aiming to start the year strongly.

"This year has not gone so well, but we have tackled it with our usual fighting spirit and that is what we will take forward to next year, when we hope to have a very different sort of championship to this one just ending," said Massa.

"The intention is to be competitive right from the start, fighting for the win in every race. This has not been a fantastic season for me, but neither has it been for the team.

"So as a driver, I have a very strong desire which I share with the whole team to give one hundred percent to improve for next year."

The season finale at Interlagos will be Massa's 100th grand prix start with Ferrari, and the Brazilian admitted it will a special weekend for him.

"This will be a very important weekend for me, as it will also mark the end of the tenth year since I first raced in Formula 1, although not ten years of competition, as I was a Ferrari test driver in 2003," he added.

"Fortunately, I am still young and there is more to come, but ten years is still a landmark in an F1 driver's career.

"Then there are my six years racing for the Scuderia, competing in one hundred Grands Prix for the team, which makes me one of the drivers who has raced the most for this team.

"Therefore, putting it all together, ten years of Formula 1, one hundred races with Ferrari and all of it at home in Brazil, makes this something really special for me. It will be an emotional time and what I would like to add to it all would be a good result come Sunday afternoon."